JDC Brings Cutting-Edge Employment Program to Israel
STRIVE’s job training and placement program debuts in Tel Aviv; plays key role in broad JDC employment initiative; targets most vulnerable segments of Israeli societyNEW YORK CITY – The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) and STRIVE today announced the successful launch of a partnership to address the high rate of unemployment in Israeli society. The launch will conclude with the February 2 graduation in Tel Aviv of more than 30 participants from the first-ever STRIVE course to be offered in Israel. STRIVE is a month-long, intensive, work readiness program developed more than 20 years ago in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City to help "difficult-to-employ" community members understand accountability and develop the interpersonal skills necessary for success in a full-time work environment.
This partnership is part of a broader JDC initiative with the Israeli government to address Israel’s high-rate of unemployment. Unemployment hovers at 11 percent in Israel and is highest among Arab Israelis, ultra-Orthodox and immigrant populations from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia. JDC’s "poverty-to-independence" Employment Initiative began in 2005 with the focus of developing services to help the long-term jobless overcome social and educational barriers to workplace success.
"Like any other developed nation, Israel deals with a challenging unemployment issue," said Judge Ellen M. Heller, JDC President. "One of the factors causing high unemployment is the reality that Israel has welcomed hundreds of thousands of immigrants in a very short period of time. Some come without work skills and others are illiterate. The result is that are tens of thousands of Israelis who lack the background they would need to flourish in a modern, post-industrial society.
"JDC is committed to doing everything it can to enable their success, and STRIVE has proven over the years that it has a formula that works. STRIVE has a methodology that has helped more than 30,000 people succeed in the workforce. JDC is partnering with STRIVE because of its track record and its ability to adapt its program to the unique issues driving unemployment in Israel."
The STRIVE pilot is among the Employment Initiative’s first projects. Staff trained jointly by JDC and STRIVE are operating the program, which will soon expand to the northern Israeli city of Haifa. The STRIVE/JDC partnership is being funded in Israel through a generous grant from the Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Foundation.
STRIVE started 21 years ago in the basement of a Harlem housing project. Its track record of helping more than 30,000 people transform their lives and become better employees and positive economic contributors to society was the main reason JDC asked the organization to bring its program to Israel. The unique curriculum is designed to transform anyone who has had difficulty maintaining or obtaining employment into a work-ready individual.
As part of the program, the candidates are required to complete assignments in group and independent settings, work through interpersonal issues, exercise self control, and demonstrate on a daily basis the tools they have acquired during the training and will need for success in the world of work. In the end, STRIVE’s graduates are no longer seen as hard to employ. Instead, they are known to be job ready. Upon completing the month-long program candidates will have an intense two-year follow-up and a lifetime commitment of service. More than 80-percent of all the people who complete the STRIVE program remain employed after two years.
"STRIVE’s unique tough-love approach emphasizing accountability, responsibility and personal growth, has a 20-year track record of achieving the desired results and lasting a lifetime," said Rob Carmona, president and CEO of STRIVE. "STRIVE has always maintained that getting people to work will improve their self-esteem – making them less apt to commit crimes or put themselves or their families in danger. Our program has the potential to not only positively impact the Israeli economy but also to mend the country’s fractured communities."
STRIVE is a Harlem based non-profit job training and placement agency that has specialized in assisting the hard-to-employ. The organization has branches in 20 cities across the United States and a branch in London, England. The core feature of STRIVE’s curriculum is a one-month job readiness program with a two year follow-up and lifetime commitment that emphasizes a positive attitude, accountability, responsibility, and personal growth. STRIVE is committed to transforming anyone who has had difficulty maintaining or obtaining employment into a work-ready individual. Additional information about the organization can be obtained at www.strivenational.org or by calling (212) 360-1100.
